When I first heard about the Pasta Diet, I was thinking and wondering how pasta can help a person lose weight.  All I know is that my husband and in-laws, who are Italians, are having a hard time losing weight and controlling the weight gain and high sugar due to pasta in their diet.  They cannot live without pasta!  I tried to put my husband on strict diet with only two pasta dishes in one week- to which he felt really miserable as if I was depriving him of his comfort and staple food.

So thinking about the word ‘Pasta’ and ‘Diet’ together seems to be ironic.  But for those who are pasta lovers ‘Pasta Diet’ is a good news.  At last, they were thinking, there’s one realistic diet that won’t starve dieters!  That is the whole point.  Pasta contains complex carbohydrates that keeps us fuller for a longer period of time and supply the energy that we need everyday.  Thus, not making you feel hungry and craving for snacks in between meals.

This diet is based on all the provisions, needed for health. The Diet is very simple and practical. The combination of the provisions effects your metabolism and therefore you can lose weight easier than with other diets. You can lose up to 11 lbs (5 kg) in 2 weeks and it is suggested for everyone with metabolism problems.  (Source:  dreamdiet4free.com)

The secret:  *It is all about the other healthy ingredients that you put in your pasta.

*Taking control of the amount of pasta is of utmost importance.  Pasta diet does not mean that you can pig out on pasta three times a day!!!

*One cup of pasta in addition to other ingredients – like fish/seafood, vegetables, meat – is the ideal amount per serving.

Other references for recipes and daily menus:

http://www.prairie8.org/the-pasta-diet.htm

http://www.dreamdiet4free.com/index.php?id=20

Suggested LMC Pasta Recipes:

Prawn Spinach Pasta

Spaghetti Broccolli

Other Pasta Diet recipes coming soon at LMC!

Prawn, spinach & Cherry tomatoes ready to be tossed with the pasta! Bellissimo!

This is not the first time I cooked my recipe, arranged it on the plate, served it on the table and forgot to take a photo for publication.  I cannot blame myself.  Once you tried this recipe you will also realize you cannot blame me for getting too excited to eat and please my palate.

Italian food is known for simple recipe and unique blend of flavors.  This is another simple, easy and quick recipe which is ideal for busy moms.  I confidently recommend this recipe to all  those who have no luxury of time to prepare two-course recipe.  Your plate will already be made complete with carbohydrates, protein and all the goodness of green and scrumptious baby spinach.  The sweet, citrus-y  and juicy cherry tomatoes are additional bonus to your craving palate.

Since the recipe is very simple, I will just put the cooking instructions and ingredients all in the next paragraph.  Amount of ingredients will depend on how much you want as well as on your taste.

Instructions: Saute garlic; put the peeled tiger prawns; splash a bit of white wine and wait for the alcohol to evaporate; put in the baby spinach and cook until wilted; throw in halved cherry tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, and bit of chili flakes.  Toss with pre-boiled spaghetti or any pasta that you like.

Optional: Put shaved parmesan on top before serving.  You can also substitute baby spinach with baby rocket lettuce of any green leafy veggies of your choice.

Bon apetit!

Tomato-Basil Sauce

The Italian tradition of making home-made tomato sauce takes place every month of February in my in-laws’ place.  A garage full of a hundred of boxes of tomatoes is one of the most amazing sight that I have ever seen in my life as a cook.  The challenge of making my own tomato sauce really tickled my thoughts.  I have only used canned tomato sauce back home in Manila.  In fairness, my tomato sauce is delicious and I love preparing it on pasta for my family most of the Sunday afternoons.  But when I moved in Australia, my taste changed.  I think I cannot be fully satisfied anymore of any pasta recipe that requires tomato sauce if the latter is not home-made.

How they do it: The first step is to steam all the tomatoes in a huge steamer.  Tomatoes are cooked when they are already soft and the skin can be easily peeled.  Cool the tomatoes.  Peel them one by one.  Put them in sterilized bottles.  Seal the bottle.  Sterilize the bottled tomatoes for an hour or so – this is the preservation process.  That’s it!  Sounds easy?  Not really…We usually finish all the tomatoes in two days!  Then, the year-supply of tomato sauce for the entire family is ready.  We produce two to three hundreds of bottled tomato sauces.

But for a busy mom like me, and if I don’t have this supply of tomato sauce, this is How I do it: Pour olive oil in a deep pan.  Saute one to two heads of garlic until they are soft.  Don’t brown the garlic.  Put the 1 kilo sliced tomatoes in, stirring continuously for a minute.  Put the lid on and leave it simmering in medium heat.  After a couple of minutes give the tomatoes a stir.  You can see here that the tomatoes are already soft and starting to juice.  No need to add water as the tomatoes will cook in its own juice.  Lower the heat and put the lid back.  Make sure to stir it once every five minutes.  When the tomatoes are already in its sauce-like consistency, it’s ready for seasoning. Season with salt and put in a handful of fresh basil.  Ground black pepper is optional.

The sauce is ready when it is not watery anymore.  You can bottle the sauce (and do the preservation process by steaming it) or keep it in a container and refrigerate it.

Blenderize the tomato sauce before bottling it or you can do that right before preparing your pasta.

It is worth making your own home-made tomato sauce once in a while.  I love using my sauce not only for pasta but for chicken, meat or seafood recipes.

I always make sure that I have some ready made Basil Pesto in the fridge.  This is very helpful when I have a very busy day that all I want to do in the afternoon is to prepare an easy and quick dinner before hubby comes home.

The tip is to prepare a container of basil pesto (which you can also replace with baby spinach) and keep it in a fridge.  It can last for a week or two.  This is because of the olive oil in it, the puree stays beautifully preserved.  And the more that the flavour of all the ingredients are enhanced and they compliment each other.

To prepare the Pesto puree:  Put in the blender the following:  Basil leaves (a bunch; remove the leaves from stems!), garlic cloves (one or two or more as you wish), pine nuts (toasted or not), some grated parmesan cheese (lots if you want) and olive oil.  The measurement of all the ingredients will depend on how much flavour you like.  Adjust the ingredients according to your taste.  Blend everything into puree/ paste or you can use food processor.

Boil the pasta in salted water.  You can choose whichever kind of pasta you want.  My favourites are spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine and fusilli.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it.  Add the pesto, thick cream (or all-purpose cream).   Mix well.

Whenever we have Pesto for dinner, I always accompany it with mixed vegetable salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil as dressing.  I also prepare my favourite bruschetta. 

How to prepare bruschetta:  Dice tomatoes, add chopped basil, minced garlic, season with salt and drizzled with olive oil.  Top the mixture on a toasted bread.

That’s it!  That could be your dinner for tonight.  Bon apetit!

Note:  You can save some of those pesto puree and use it as marinade for your favourite chicken or steak.  Marinade it overnight and grill or even pan fry.  I have also tried it on prawns.  Delish!!